


Summer Camp

by sugarandspace



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Crushes, Getting Together, Homophobia, M/M, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 22:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15181208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarandspace/pseuds/sugarandspace
Summary: Alec's parents sent him on a summer camp to get him away from the boy next door. They didn't expect him to meet someone like Magnus there.





	Summer Camp

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Not_so_fast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_so_fast/gifts).



> I asked for prompts on tumblr and Not_so_fast suggested a roommate AU. It was a welcome challenge since I haven't written AU Malec yet!

Spending two weeks in the middle of nowhere wasn’t Alec’s ideal way to spend his summer holiday, but that’s where he found himself. He’d much rather have been at home, spending time with the boy next door. Daniel was his classmate and neighbor, and the two were pretty much inseparable, spending time together both at school and home.

Alec knew that that was a big part of the reason why he was on a youth camp run by the local church. His parents’ opinions weren’t lost for him, he had heard the arguments and hadn’t missed the undertones his mother’s tone took when she talked about Daniel, or their friendship. Truth be told, he didn’t think his mother even tried to hide her dislike. His father was different, avoiding the subject and wishing it went away.

His parents argued a lot, but this had been one of the things they had agreed on. Alec thought it was unfair, Izzy didn’t need to go because she had found herself a job for the summer (although Alec feared for the customers of that cafe), and Jace was allowed to stay back because he was going camping with Clary and her family. 

It was unfair and Alec let it show when they drove him to the bus station, giving the cold shoulder and silent treatment to his parents who tried to cheer him up and talk about how he was definitely going to have fun at the camp if he just gave it a chance. Alec had ignored them, staring out of the window as they drove.

The bus ride had taken almost two hours, but eventually the bus had arrived at a lake, vast amounts of forest around it. The place was beautiful, but Alec was determined not to enjoy it. The camp counselors had taken away their phones, saying that it would do them good to be without technology, to enjoy the nature for once. All Alec could think about was how he couldn’t even text Daniel now. They weren’t completely cutting contact to the outside world, the counselors said that they could ask for their phones if they needed to call their parents for example, but Alec was sure he wouldn’t be allowed to get his phone to have lengthy text conversations with his friend.

They had been divided to pairs, each pair getting a small cabin of their own. Alec was paired with Magnus Bane, a loud boy with fashion sense to match. At first Alec had been annoyed, he wasn’t a fan of people and living in a cabin with a stranger for two weeks sounded very much like his own personal version of hell, but the more he learnt about Magnus, the more he found himself liking the boy.

Magnus was a year older than Alec despite being a few inches shorter than him. The clothes he wore would have looked odd on pretty much anyone else, but the confidence that he carried them with made him look so sure of himself, and not in a cocky way, but in a way that made Alec admire the other teen. Alec was pretty much the opposite, dressing up in black and grey in hopes to blend into the crowd, his posture hunched so that his height wouldn’t cause him to hover above everyone so much. Another thing his mother always chastised him about. 

Magnus was talkative, funny, and a great storyteller. He didn’t pressure Alec to speak and was happy to fill any unwelcome silence that fell into the cabin during the first few days before Alec grew comfortable with him.   

Magnus was also the first person Alec knew who was out. He had held hope for Daniel but had eventually learnt that he was straight. Not that he’d tell her mother, he preferred to annoy his mother by letting her think that there were something going on between them. A silent act of rebellion. Alec hadn’t come out to his parents, but he didn’t treat it as a secret either. It was like an unspoken thing hanging upon them. Learning that Magnus liked guys too made Alec feel a little less alone, even though their situations weren't identical since Magnus was bisexual and Alec only liked boys. 

As days passed Alec found himself sulking less and smiling more, all thanks to Magnus. They completed the tacky camp tasks and games together, all the while quietly making fun of them. Magnus was captivating both when it came to personality and appearance. Alec would be foolish not to think of him any less than beautiful.

Okay, maybe, just maybe Alec had developed a crush to his roommate.

That’s why he didn’t hesitate when the last night of the camp Magnus asked him to join him for a walk after the camp counselors had made their nightly check up that everyone was in their cabins and getting ready to sleep. 

Magnus was a huge space nerd, Alec had learnt during their time at the camp. And apparently the moon was going to do something ‘exceptionally brilliant’ tonight. Magnus wanted to walk to a clearing where they had earlier today had a playful athletics tournament hosted by an overly ecstatic camp instructor. For Alec and Magnus it had been a competition who could be worse, which had resulted in a pretty amusing and borderline dangerous round of shot put.  

They snuck out of their cabin, trying to stay in the shadows and avoid the lights that illuminated the area with the cabins. They found the trail that led them to the forest, and started walking to the darkness. Alec’s heart was beating wildly in his chest, both at the idea of going into a dark forest and because of the possibility of getting caught, but what made it almost flip out of his chest was when Magnus reached for his hand and held it.

“We can’t get lost from each other,” Magnus explained as Alec looked down at their hands. He could barely see anything, but from what he could see, Magnus seemed calm and like this wasn’t a big deal, while Alec was internally freaking out, hyper aware of the hand in his. The warmth, the firm grip, and the cold rings on Magnus’ fingers. 

Alec hadn’t said anything, just held Magnus’ hand in return and looked back in front of them. Magnus turned on the flashlight he had with him, apparently confident that the light wouldn’t show to the camp anymore.

They walked in silence for a while, only the occasional howl of an owl breaking it. But it was a comfortable silence, and Alec had even gotten used to the hand holding his. The hand that was still linked to his own, even when the flashlight provided them enough light to now see each other.

They found the clearing and sat down on the forest floor, their backs against a big rock in the middle of the clearing. In the process they had let go of their hands, but Magnus was sitting so close to Alec that he could feel the warmth radiating from his arm that was right next to Alec’s. It brought a nice contrast to the chilly night, and the cold rock they were leaning against. 

“Looks pretty cool, doesn’t it?” Magnus asked, referring to the moon that was on the sky in front of them, big and giving a red glow.

“It does,” Alec agreed before he continued with a teasing smile, “Totally worth to let you convince me to break rules and lure me to the forest at midnight.”

“Alexander,” Magnus responded feigning shock and dramatically putting his hand over his own heart. “Are you implying that I’m a bad influence?”

Magnus liked to call him by his full name, rather than the short version everyone else used. At first it had made Alec think of his grandmother, but soon he had accepted that as Magnus’ way of calling him, and he had maybe learnt to love his own name a bit more as a result.   

“Never,” Alec responded and to his own shock linked his hand with Magnus’ again, to which the other boy responded by rubbing his thumb over Alec’s knuckles. “I’m really happy I met you.”

“I’m happy too,” Magnus replied with a smile.

They sat there for quite some time, Magnus teaching Alec about space and Alec telling him stories of how he, Izzy, and Jace had once tried to build a treehouse. A catastrophic building project that had resulted in Jace angering a squirrel.

By the end of the story Magnus was doubled over with laughter, his eyes shining as he couldn’t stop smiling.

“Your brother sounds like a character,” Magnus said and he collected himself.

“That he is,” Alec agreed while his own laughter died down.

Suddenly they noticed their flashlight start flickering, an indication that it was starting to run out of battery.

“We should probably get back,” Magnus said, even though his expression showed that he really didn’t want that. And Alec could relate, he would love nothing more than to spend the whole night there in the forest, just the two of them.

Reluctantly, both of them got up and they started to head back to the direction where they had came from. The light of their flashlight got dimmer and dimmer as they walked, but it didn’t completely turn off. Soon they could see the lights of the camp and Magnus turned the light off, back to being sneaky. 

Alec was pretty sure that no one else in the camp was awake, but they were still careful when they made their way to their cabin. Once inside, the both of them let out sighs of relief before changing to their sleep clothes and getting to their own beds. It took hours before either of them fell asleep though, too busy to keep the conversation going until they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer.

Waking up in the morning was brutal, the boys had slept for approximately three hours before they were woken up by a camp instructor walking to their cabin and wishing them good morning. Alec wanted nothing more than just go back to sleep, relating to Magnus who flipped a finger to the door as it closed behind the woman. 

“I wonder what she had mixed with her morning coffee,” Magnus muttered as he sat up in bed, his hair a mess. Not that Alec could judge, he could barely tame his hair in the best days.  

“I don’t know but I want some,” Alec said and rubbed his face. The only thing motivating him to get out of bed was the fact that this was their last day in here. Unlike Alec would have imagined two weeks ago, he actually felt sad to leave the place. They only had hours left, he wanted to spend them with Magnus instead of sleeping.

They got out of their beds and got ready, a task that looked way too easy for Magnus. They packed their stuff, so that their bags were ready and waiting by the door, and walked to the main cabin where the breakfast was served. They ate while talking about this and that and Alec was pretty sure that he didn’t imagine the weight that hung over the conversation.

After breakfast they had few hours to spare. It was the last day and they didn’t have any activities, and the busses wouldn’t leave before noon. They would get on different busses, because Alec had learnt that Magnus lived on the other side of the state.

They found themselves at a small pier at the lake. They were sitting on the edge of it, their feet in the cold water. The pier was somewhat secluded, other campers packing their things or hanging out by the cabins that were visible a bit further up from the shore.

“I meant what I said yesterday,” Alec said and took Magnus’ hand. This was his last opportunity and he would kick himself for the rest of eternity if he stayed quiet. It was terrifying, but if he made a complete fool of himself now at least he could rest easy that they wouldn’t see each other ever again. The thought made Alec incredibly sad. “I’m really happy I met you. You are amazing and I’ve had so much fun with you. I- I really like you Magnus.”

He had said what he wanted and although he was dreading the reply, he didn’t regret his words for a minute. He fixed his eyes to the water, looking at the small fish that were swimming near his still legs.

“I really like you too,” came Magnus’ reply next to him, and Alec felt lips brush against his cheek briefly.

Alec turned to look at Magnus in shock, his cheeks no doubt a fiery shade of red if the warmth he felt was any indication. He quickly looked at the cabins, making sure no one saw them, even though he didn’t care if he got yelled at right now.

“You- You do?” Alec asked, looking at Magnus who to his surprise was also blushing a little, an uncharacteristic reaction for such a confident person.

“Yeah,” Magnus said, smiling warmly. “And I was thinking that even though long distance relationships are difficult, that maybe we could give it a go?”

“You want to be my boyfriend?” Alec asked with surprise clear on his face. He had hoped for a positive reaction but this was exceeding all his hopes.

“Yeah,” Magnus said. “If you want to be mine.”

“Of course I want to,” Alec replied, and he watched as Magnus took a pen out of his pocket, a marker much like the ones they had used to draw dream maps the other day, another pointless activity that had gone horribly south for the two of them.

“Where did you get that from?” Alec asked, confused.

“Stole it,” Magnus said shrugging his shoulders. “After breakfast. I saw these on one of the tables and thought that I might need it. Give me your arm.”

Alec did as he was told, offering his arm to Magnus who held his wrist in his other hand, the other hand holding the red marker. Alec watched as Magnus wrote down his phone number, adding a smiley face to the end.

“You were sure that I was going to say yes?” Alec joked. As if he wouldn’t have.

“I was hopeful,” Magnus admitted. 

Alec laughed and reached for Magnus’ hand again, holding it tightly as they sat at the pier and talked, the weight lifted and replaced by a feeling of lightness Alec hadn’t felt in a while. 

-.-.-

Alec stepped out of the bus and noticed his parents’ car on the parking lot. He started to walk towards the car and got in the backseat, a happy smile on his face. A smile that he hadn’t been able to shake ever since the pier. 

“Looks like you had fun after all,” his mother said, a smile on her face that practically screamed ‘I told you so’.

“Yeah,” Alec said as he looked at his phone that had pinged with a new message. A message from Magnus. “I got a boyfriend.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had to make Daniel straight because a part of me started to ship him with Alec and that was a no no. Also I love sassy Alec.  
>  [hmu on tumblr!](http://didnotthinkitwouldcometothis.tumblr.com)


End file.
